Improvement in thrashing-machines



J. REED. I

Thrashing Machi n em v r l u 8 o m x e "6 U IV/T @M N; Perms. PhnloJ- lhogmphur, Waihingmn. a. c,

Patented April 14, 1863.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE REED, OF MARSHFIELD, MASSAOHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN THRASHlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming partot Letters Patent No. 38,179, dated April 14, 1863.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JESSE ltEED, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Marshfield, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful or Improved Machine for Thrashing Grain; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, making part thereof.

Of such drawings, Figure 1 denotes a top view, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical and longitudinal section, ofa machine furnished with my invention. Fig. 4 is atransverse and vertical section of it, the said section being taken through the yielding lip and the feeding-board and its opening, to be hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the upper surface of the feeding-board.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination ofa yielding lip or flap with a revolving beater and a feedingboard, the arrangement of the revolving heater or the driving-shaft thereof, the feeding-board, and its opening being such as to enable a person while imparting rotary motion to the beater (by means of one of his hands applied so as to turn its crank or that of its driving-shaft) to pass with his other hand the straw through the feeding-opening in a direction parallel, or about so, to the axis of the shaft of the beater, or perpendicular, or about so, to the plane of rotation of such beater.

In the said drawings, A denotes the frame of the machine, within which there is placed the revolving beater B, which consists of series of arms a a a a, projecting radially from a horizontal shaft, I). The said shaft extends across the frame, is supported in suitable boxes, 0 c, and carries a pinion, d, at or near each of its ends. Each of the said pinions engages with one of two driving-gears, e 0, carried by one of two driving-shafts, ff. A crank, g or g, is fixed on each shaft f or f. The beater is covered by a circular case, 0, which is placed within the frame A, and has a discharging-openin g, as shown ath. It also has a receiving-opening, 1', arranged in one side of it and directly over the feeding board or table D. This feeding-board extends horizontally, and is perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the heater, and may be so applied to the frame A as to be capable of being adjusted nearer to or farther from the beater,

as occasion may require, this adjustment being for the purpose of setting the operative edge of the yielding lip E of such feedingboard at its proper distance from the beater, in accordance with the kind of grain to be thrashed. The said yielding lip is to be so made, or is to be so hinged or connected to the inner edge ofthe feeding-board, as to be capable of readily springing downward from and afterward rising upward into its horizontal position,it having in this latter respect an automatic action induced by a spring either inherent to it or separate from it. The object of this yielding lip is to prevent the straw from being broken under the blows of the beater. It also yields when any stone or extraneous substance is presented with the straw to the action of the beater, and thus not only prevents injury to the arms of the beater, but also operates to prevent breakage of other parts of the machine.

In operatin g this machine a person can not only put the beater in revolution by applying one of his hands to and so as to turn the crank nextadjacent to the feeding-board, but with his other hand he can place the grain on the said feedingboard, and forceit into the machine through the opening t'. In passing over and beyond the yielding lip, the said grain will be struck by the beater in rapid revolution, and will not only be divested of its seeds, but will have its straw thrown out of the discharging-openin g of the case.

The reason why two cranks and two sets of gears are shown as applied to the machine is that another person may assist in operating such machine. One crank, however, with one set of gears, will suffice to put the beater in revolution but it is desirable to have two such cranks arranged and applied as described, as when the machine is so made it can be run to better advantage than if provided with but one driving-shaft.

I claim as my invention- The combination of the yielding lip E with the revolving beater B and the feedingboard D or its equivalent, the arrangement of the revolving beater B or the driving-shaft thereof, the feeding-board D, and its opening i, being as and for the purpose substantially as described.

JESSE REED.

Witnesses:

F. P. HALE, J r., BENJ. H. Wns'r. 

